We Shine the Spotlight on YOU’RE THE WORST Star Aya Cash

It’s hard to not fall head over heels in love with FXX’s YOU’RE THE WORST. From the quick witted jokes to the painfully realistic character portrayals, the show is utterly entertaining. The person at the center of the crazy, ridiculous world of YTW is Gretchen, played brilliantly by Aya Cash. Whether she’s casually doing drugs with on-again-off-again boyfriend Jimmy or setting her apartment on fire, Gretchen is arguably the most out of control out of the whole bunch. Cash effortlessly makes you love and hate Gretchen, a balance that is surprisingly hard to find on television nowadays. I caught up with the hilarious actress about her favorite scenes from this season, what drew her to Gretchen as a character, and her plan to make a musical episode happen if there is a season three.

What was your initial reaction after reading the pilot? What drew you to Gretchen as a character?Aya Cash: I think I was just excited to play a woman who was completely flawful as opposed to flawless, also behaving just as badly as the boys and it had an incredible amount of vulnerability and I just thought that was a really lovely combination, especially in a comedy. I thought the writing was brilliant, it was an easy decision for me.

How do you think Gretchen has grown since the first season? Aside from her and Jimmy going a bit crazy trying to not end up like the “Sweater People” do you think she has matured being with him?
I think as we just saw in the third episode when she tries to reconnect with her party girl friends and they are all grownups now, except one of them is behaving much worse than she is. She is sort of stuck in this middle ground, trying to be the crazy, out there, party girl that she used to be and not. I think we all go through that when we grow up, having to shed our former selves and it’s a painful shedding. We hold onto things that we identify about ourselves, like partying hard for Gretchen, that’s who she thinks she should be, but she may not be that person anymore, or she may be, you’ll see.

How do you think Lindsay is going to handle single life? We’ve seen in the last couple of episodes that Edgar has developed feelings for her, how will we see that play out?
Poor Edgar! I can’t give anything away but it’s not like she’s been treating him well so far. I do think that there is obvious chemistry and the writers are going to play with that. Lindsay is a mess (Laughs) I wouldn’t wish her on anyone. I mean, I wish her on the viewers because she’s amazing television but I wouldn’t wish her in life on anyone.

Do you think you could be friends with any of them in real life?
I don’t think any of them would be friends with me. Edgar would be friends with everyone! I’m way too boring for Jimmy and Gretchen. I’m definitely a sweater person, unfortunately. I love fall, I love a good sweater.

How would you describe your perfect Sunday funday?
We always get asked that and I always give the most boring answers! I’m always like, I like to read a book and go for a walk. Let’s change it up and say I get shit faced at six in the morning and then go steal a car, drive to Long Island, then jump in the ocean. That’s my perfect Sunday funday! (Laughs)

Are there any episodes or scenes you’re really excited for the fans to see?
I’m really excited for them to season Sunday funday which is episode eight. There are stunts, costumes, it’s going to be airing around Halloween. I’ve always wanted to make it far enough in a TV show to get to a theme episode, cause that’s when you feel like you’ve really made it on a show. We have a theme episode, season three is when you do the musical episode so I’m really hoping for that.

I’d love to see Jimmy sing.
Chris can sing! We can all sing!

Really!
That’s the thing we are all insanely jealous of Kether. Kether’s the best, she’s amazing. We can all definitely pull our on, and we’ve all really, really pitched a musical episode for next year.

What shows are you loving on TV right now?
I just watched all of MR. ROBOT, which is like, beyond brilliant. I think the acting is brilliant, the writing is brilliant, it’ beautiful shot and it’s just sort of all these elements that came together and made a perfect show. I just started PENNY DREADFUL and I know I kind of missed the boat but it is so disgusting, upsetting, and wonderful. I watch a lot of TV, ask me next week and I’ll have a whole new set of shows.

You can watch Aya on an all new episode of YOU’RE THE WORST tonight at 10:30 on FXX.

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About Victoria Nelli

Victoria Nelli loves TV so much that she is paying $30,000 a year to learn about it in College. When she’s not learning about TV she enjoys writing about her favorite shows, interviewing anyone in the industry that will let her, and ranting about how underrated Parks and Recreation is. She is very much aware of her Netflix addiction, and no she will not be seeking help anytime soon. You can follow her on Twitter @VictoriaNelli